Europa Journal

by Jack Castle

  But Mac didn’t answer and instead stared at the bearded man in robes. She knew that Tae and Leo didn’t want to know what their commanding officer really thought, for they would think that she had gone mad. And that just wouldn’t do.

  #

  A short time later, Mac and her crew sat at a dining room table that was long enough to serve over seventy people. Like the throne room, the enormous dining hall had once been lavish but had long since fallen into decay. Mook servants ran in and out of the kitchen with the marvelous feast they had prepared.

  By the time Enoch finally joined them, the group had finished a seven course meal. Mac couldn’t make heads or tails of the first six items but the main entrée smelled, looked, and tasted like an oily roast pheasant — it wasn’t half bad.

  Enoch inquired about the group’s adventures, and Leo recounted most of the story, although, to Mac’s relief, he left out the murders of the river creature and the Mook sentry. Instead, Leo told Enoch about the Europa Moon Base, the wormhole, their crash-landing, and their trip to the city. The old prophet listened intently and occasionally nodded or asked Leo to repeat something he didn’t understand.

  After what seemed like hours, Mac became exasperated that the conversation wasn’t a mutual exchange of information; they had learned nothing about Enoch. More abruptly than she had intended, she demanded, “Enoch, what is this place and who are you?”

  Everybody in the room, including the Mook servants, stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

  To her surprise, the old prophet answered her directly. He seemed to understand her frustrated curiosity. “This place is Joppa-Cal. And, as I have said, my name is Enoch. What else it is you wish to know, Ko-man-dier Macleansy?”

  Mac frowned, suspecting that this was going to be tougher than she had thought. “How long have you been here?”

  “I arrived here about two hundred years ago, and I was told by those who carried me to the stars that several millennia will pass in my absence from my house.”

  “How is that possible?” Leo asked. “In our timeline, you lived over seven hundred years ago.”

  Enoch spread his arms to the heavens. “Only by the grace of the gods.”

  “Are you the ruler of this place?” Brett asked from the far end of the table.

  “Oh, no.” Enoch smiled. “I am merely its caretaker for the gods.”

  “Do you have interplanetary transport?” Mac asked.

  When he didn’t answer, Leo added, “Uh, chariots that go from one planet to the next, like the one that I told you about, the one that brought us here.”

  “Ah. No, but the gods do.”

  “Are the gods here now?” Stein spoke up for the first time since dinner. He sat opposite Brett at the far end of the group.

  “Yes and no,” Enoch said. Seeing their confusion, he explained, “Khaos, greatest of all the gods, first born of Anu, he who gave birth to the universe, sees everything through the eyes of his followers, but he and his brethren will soon be amongst us once more. It will be a great day of celebration.”

  Mac noted that although Enoch tried to portray this event as a happy one, the look on his face did not match his words. Whether this Khaos could indeed see through the eyes of his followers or not, it was clear that Enoch believed the gods would hear any negative words said about them and issue severe punishment.

  “What’s that down there?” Leo asked, breaking the silence. When Mac turned to the co-pilot’s seat, she found it abandoned. The young pilot stood in an alcove that ran parallel to the dining hall and pointed to a paved, mile-long ramp that sloped upward and ended abruptly.

  “That,” Enoch said proudly, “is the Royal Mile. When the gods arrive, the trumpets shall sound in all their glory, and the gods themselves shall descend from the heavens and be among us.”

  “Who are these gods you speak of?” Stein asked. Mac was surprised at the commando’s curiosity.

  “Surely my descendants told you about God, the one who made us? I went to a great deal of trouble to construct a place where my scrolls of knowledge would survive.” Enoch looked at them worriedly.

  “Well, the safe you put them in survived, anyway,” Tae answered. Seeing looks of confusion, he elaborated. “Enoch is credited with building the Great Pyramids of Egypt.”

  “Wait a minute,” Leo said. He rejoined them at the table and grabbed a piece of cheese. “I thought Cheops was the architect of the Great Pyramids.”

  “That’s what modern day Egyptologists will have you believe, but the ancient Egyptians regarded Enoch as the pyramids’ builder.”

  Enoch seemed unfazed by this discussion, and he resumed his tale. “Shortly after, the gods brought me here in a fiery chariot and made me caretaker of this place.”

  Tae began speaking again in the voice he’d used for quoting the Bible, “And they sought them at the place whence Enoch rose up to heaven. And when they came to the place, they found the earth covered with snow, and upon the snow lay great stones like unto hailstones. They each spoke to the other: ‘Let us dig away the snow and see if we may not find those who accompanied Enoch.’”

  “And did they find them?” Enoch asked, looking troubled.

  “Yes,” Tae said soberly. He looked directly at Enoch. “They found the bodies of hundreds of your followers. They hadn’t heeded your warnings to stay away and were burned to death. But your remains were never found.”

  “I did not know that,” Enoch said sadly. “I warned them to stay away.”

  Mac gave Tae a hard stare.

  Lifting his gaze, Enoch asked hastily, “And my son — my son Methuselah — was he killed as well?”

  “Uh, no,” Tae said. “He lived to be 969 years old. I think he was the oldest man in recorded history.”

  Enoch nodded at this good news, but Mac saw that the old prophet was still overwhelmed with grief over his followers’ deaths.

  “I am sorry, but I am an old man, and I am suddenly very tired,” he said. “Please excuse me. My servants will show you to your bedchambers.”

  “Wait, Enoch. We still have so many unanswered questions,” Mac said.

  “Tomorrow, after you have rested and eaten, I will answer all of your questions.” Turning to Tae, he said, “And if you like, young man, I will give you a guided tour of the city of Joppa-Cal.”

  Tae beamed. “I’d like that very much.”

  “Good then. My servants will show you to your rooms.” Enoch rose from his chair.

  “Please, Enoch, just one more question,” Mac begged.

  Enoch sighed heavily. “Only because you are such a lovely woman. What is your question?”

  “How did you learn English?”

  Enoch sighed again. “Out in the desert, several hunter’s moons ago, a great fiery chariot fell from the sky. Not long after, Khaos descended from the cosmos, and a stranger then came to the palace. The stranger was dressed as you are, but Khaos was very angry with him. He and his friends were punished severely for their blasphemy and placed in my care. Then, after the Gods left, the man escaped. But before he did, I often visited him in his cell. He taught me how to speak Ang-lash and play a game he called chess.”

  “Where did he go?” Leo asked.

  “My young friend, you’re just as impatient as Harry was.” Enoch smiled.

  Everyone around the table immediately froze.

  Brett was the first one to break the silence. “Hey, Mac, isn’t that the name of the guy in your book?”

  “You knew Captain Harry Reed?” Mac asked. “What happened to him?”

  “Oh, now you want to know about Harry?” Enoch said. “Another time perhaps.”

  “No, now Enoch,” Mac ordered.

  A Tripod guard burst into the room. The prophet assured the Tripod that he was fine, and the sentry returned to its post outside the dining hall.

>   Despite the guard’s appearance, Mac pressed the issue. “I’m sorry, Enoch. I know you’re tired, but this is very important. What happened to Captain Reed? How did he die?”

  “Die? He didn’t die. At least, I do not think he died.”

  “Wait a minute. Are you telling me he’s still alive?”

  “Yes, yes. Well, he was alive when he left for the ruins, the ruins that fell from the sky. However, I’m afraid I haven’t seen him in some time.”

  “Enoch,” Tae said, “how long ago did you see him?”

  “Let’s see, the DaMookie celebration was last moon … about six Awumpai moons ago.”

  “Tell me more about these ruins, these ruins from the sky,” Mac said.

  “Please, I am a very old man. I have answered your questions, and I must now go to bed.”

  “All right, Enoch. I’m sorry, but can you take me to these ruins in the morning?”

  “No,” Enoch said, “we can’t go into the desert this time of the year. It’s very dangerous; it’s lyquest season.”

  “Lyquest? What’s that?” Leo asked.

  “Lyquest? Lyquest are carnivorous insects about the size of your head.”

  Leo turned to his commanding officer. “Mac, what do you want to go there for? These gods obviously have interstellar travel. Let’s wait around for them and see if they can hook us up with a ride back home.”

  “That seems like the best bet to me,” Brett added.

  Mac stared at the two men in disbelief. “We have to find out if Captain Reed or anyone else from the Lost Patrol survived. And if these lyquest things are as dangerous as Enoch says, that’s all the more reason to go out there and look for the patrol sooner rather than later.”

  “Mac,” Leo pleaded.

  “I’m going with or without you,” she said. “It’s settled. We’ll go out to these ruins tomorrow and search for any survivors.”

  “I really wish you wouldn’t go, but if you insist, I will arrange for my personal chariot to take you there,” Enoch said.

  “That’s very kind of you. Thank you. I’m truly sorry for keeping you up so late.”

  The old prophet shuffled over to Mac. He reached up and tapped her cheek lightly with his weathered hand. “It’s okay, my dear. I enjoyed your company. As for the rest of you, I bid you good night.”

  As the group got up to leave the table, Leo’s face contorted as he clearly struggled to make sense of the information they had received. “Wait a minute; I’m confused,” he said. “Enoch left Earth about seven centuries ago, but he wound up here less than two hundred years ago. Then the World War II pilots disappeared in the Bermuda triangle in 1945 and showed up here six months ago. We left Earth in 2168 and showed up here less than a week ago. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Unless this place is some sort of nexus,” Tae said.

  Everyone looked at him. “Care to elaborate on that?” Mac asked.

  “We all know that a wormhole is a non-recurring, randomly generated pathway between two distinct space-time dimensions.” He picked up a napkin from the table and folded it into the shape of a tunnel. “But what if, instead of a tunnel shape, our wormhole was shaped more like a funnel? Like this.” He folded the napkin accordingly. “And for the sake of argument, let’s say Enoch is here.” He pointed to the wider, outer ring of the cone. “And we’re closer to here.” He pointed to the smaller end of the cone. “If this cone represents the shape of the timeline in a wormhole, then, regardless of when you traveled through it, ultimately everyone arrives at this point in the galaxy at roughly the same time.”

  “You lost me, partner,” Brett said while pocketing some fruit from a bowl.

  “In other words, Enoch left seven centuries ago, but he still travels to the same point in time and space as we do, except that he arrives a couple hundred years earlier. The missing pilots left Earth back in 1945, so they arrive say six months ago. We leave Earth in 2168 and arrive a week ago. We’re all moving toward the same zenith in the wormhole.”

  “Yeah, but why is the wormhole cone and not tunnel shaped?” Mac asked.

  “Well, my theory is that the wormhole must be closing on this end first; otherwise, it would be shaped like a tunnel.”

  Pondering Tae’s theory, the group followed the Mook servants out of the dining hall and up several spiral staircases to their rooms.

  As they gathered in the hallway before their respective doors, Mac turned to the group and bid everyone good night. Stein and Tae immediately disappeared into their rooms, but Brett called out to her in a low voice.

  “Hey, Mac, is it okay if Leo and I talk to you for a minute?”

  Here it comes, Mac thought. As they had walked up the long staircases, she had heard Brett and Leo going on about something in the rear. They joined her at her door, and she asked, “What’s on your minds, gentlemen?” She hoped that having the conference at the door, rather than in her room, would keep it short. “Go on; spit it out.”

  “‘Flesh eating locusts the size of your head,’” Brett said, reciting Enoch’s words.

  “Yeah, that doesn’t exactly sound like Club Med,” Leo added. “Maybe we should skip the ruins and wait for these gods.”

  Brett moved closer to her. “You know I’ll back whatever decision you make, but these ruins sound pretty dangerous. Maybe Leo’s right on this one. Maybe we should wait to talk with these gods. After we’re better equipped and have more information, we can go out after Captain Reed.”

  “He’s right,” Leo said. “Besides, if these ruins are as dangerous as Enoch says, Captain Reed might not even be alive.”

  Mac looked at them as though they had sprouted multiple heads. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Look, Leo, if there’s even the slightest chance that Captain Reed is still alive, I’m going out after him.” She turned and unlatched the door to her bedroom.

  “Why? Why do you have to go?” Leo asked.

  “Because he’s a rescue pilot, and he was lost trying to find pilots like you and me. The least we can do is look for him.”

  Brett removed his hat and looked as if he were about to say something else to Mac, but he seemed to change his mind.

  “Well, if there’s nothing else, gentlemen, I’ll see you in the morning.” She went into her room and closed the door.

  Defeated, Brett turned from the closed door and saw Leo smiling at him. “What are you grinning at?”

  “You like her,” Leo said. “You like the commander.”

  Brett shook his head. “Go to bed, Leo.”

  As Brett walked down the hallway to his assigned room, he heard Leo taunting him. “Big bad Brett’s got a crush on Mac.”

  #

  Mac’s bedroom resembled the rest of the magnificent, yet slightly rundown, castle. Flopping onto the bed, she smiled to herself. Captain Harry Reed was still alive, and she was going to meet him.

  She rolled over onto her back and removed the journal from her pocket. After fluffing up a few dusty old pillows, she settled in to find out what had happened when Harry had met with the gods. But before her eyes even focused on the open book, she fell fast asleep.

  If she had stayed awake to read the next entry, Commando Brett Harper might have lived.

  Chapter 19

  The Palace

  As Asha, Harry, and the Awumpai marched up the long stone walkway, the so-called ‘Royal Mile’, to the magnificent floating palace of the gods, Harry noted that the palace contrasted sharply with the drab, medieval-looking city of Joppa-Cal.

  The palace was breathtaking. To Harry, it reminded him of all those pictures he had seen in National Geographic. It was as though the designers of the Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, the Mayan temples, and the Egyptian pyramids collectively had built the palace. Or perhaps it was the other way around, Harry mused. Maybe the designers of Earth’s greatest architectural wonders
had been inspired by the floating palace. Either way, Earth’s monuments paled in comparison with the enormous palace.

  The entrance alone was two-stories high. The great doors were propped open to receive the myriad worshipers, who arrived with tributes of jewels, livestock, and slaves.

  Captain Reed had seen many strange beings since he left Earth, including light-bulb-headed Martians, purple-skinned Mooks, woolly samurai, and fairy wood nymphs. However, the two guards that flanked the palace’s entrance blew them all away in the category of weirdness. The humanoid creatures stood on three powerful legs and had giant gemstone eyes. Their lower bodies clip-clopped around like horses, but these orange-skinned creatures were far from horses.

  As they passed between the two guards, Asha moved a little closer to Harry’s side and squeezed his hand. Harry wasn’t afraid to admit it; he squeezed back.

  The Awumpai snorted with distrust when they moved near the creatures, and Harry knew that Fu-Mar, at least, kept his hand near the hilt of his sword. If the tripod-legged creatures were afraid of the Awumpai, they didn’t show it.

  The group passed through the doors and came to a stop. A line of worshipers had formed in the inner hallway, and it took Harry, Asha, and the Awumpai another hour to progress to a second set of giant doors. As Harry neared the doors, he saw the reason for the holdup: a royal announcer, a tiny hybrid who bore an uncanny resemblance to a Siamese cat, stopped the line to announce each newcomer as he or she entered the palace.

  Finally, it was Asha’s group’s turn. “Announcing Dan-Sai Asha of the Province Mukara.”

  Within the palace, the air was cool and smelled sweet.

  “Ah, can you hear the music?” Asha asked Harry.

  But Harry heard nothing besides the announcer’s annoying voice, the echoes of shuffling feet, and the joyful chattering of the worshipers. Looking at Asha, he saw that she was clearly entertained. Her eyes were ablaze as though they looked at something wondrous. However, when he followed her gaze, he saw nothing.

  Sensing his frustration, Asha finally looked back at him. “Oh, I’m sorry, Harry. I forgot.” She reached up and lightly touched behind his ear with her middle finger, just as she had done by the river to show him the vision.